Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Central Africa recipes. This page provides links to all the Central Africa recipes presented on this site, with 658 recipes in total.

These recipes, for the major part, originate in Central Africa. Otherwise they are fusion recipes with major Central African influences.

Central Africa (also known as Middle Africa) is the region of Africa that straddles the Equator and is drained largely by the Congo River system. The landscapes of Central Africa are most often wide plateaus, which are smooth in the central part and etched at the periphery. The interior basin of the Congo River is joined to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow neck traversing ridges parallel to the coast. The basin contains some marshlands in the region where the Congo, Ubangi, Likouala, and Sangha rivers converge and where Lakes Mai-Ndombe and Tumba are found. Its major part, however, consists of drier surfaces (low plateaus or alluvial terraces). The Congo River basin has historically been ecologically significant to the populations of Central Africa, serving as an important supra-regional organization in Central Africa.

Archeological finds in Central Africa have been made which date back over 100,000 years. According to Zagato and Holl, there is evidence of iron smelting in the Central African Republic that may date back to 3000 to 2500 BCE. Extensive walled settlements have recently been found in Northeast Nigeria, approximately 60 km southwest of Lake Chad dating to the first millennium BCE.

Trade and improved agricultural techniques supported more sophisticated societies, leading to the early civilizations of West Africa: Sao, Kanem, Bornu, Shilluk, Baguirmi, and Wadai. Around 2500 BCE, Bantu migrants had reached the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa. Halfway through the first millennium BCE, the Bantu had also settled as far south as what is now Angola.

Following the Bantu Migration, Central Africa is primarily inhabited by Native African or Bantu peoples and Bantu languages predominate. These include the Mongo, Kongo and Luba peoples. Central Africa also includes many Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo Ubangian communities: in north western Central Africa the Nilo-Saharan Kanuri predominate. Most of the Ubangian speakers in Africa (often grouped with Niger-Congo) are also found in Central Africa, such as the Gbaya, Banda and Zande, in northern Central Africa.

Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity and pollution. These entrenched environmental concerns are expected to worsen as climate change impacts Africa. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as the continent most vulnerable to climate change.

Food and Cuisine

Central Africa expands from the Tibesti Mountains in the north to the vast rainforest basin of the Congo River, the highlands of Kivu and the savannah of Katanga.

This region has received culinary influence of the Swahilis (culture that evolved via the combination of Bantu, Yemeni, Omani and Indian cultures) during the trans-Saharan slave trade. Swahili culinary influences can be found in dishes such as mandazi, pilaf rice, kachumbari, sambusa, and kuku paka.

Central African cuisine has also been influenced by the Portuguese, by way of the Kongo and Ndongo Kingdoms. Salt fish was introduced following trade in the late 17th century, and the Kikongo term for salt fish, makayabu, comes from the term bacalhau.

The Portuguese culinary influence is especially prominent in Angola, Sao Tomé and Equatorial Guinea. Central Africa has also been influenced by the cuisine of the regions East, West and Southern Africa because of their close proximity, e.g. babuté or bobotie is shared with the south, nyama choma with the east and gombos with West Africa.

In Central Africa, a variety of crops are grown, including yams, cassava, bananas and plantains, sweet potatoes, and cocoyams. These crops have become staples in the diet of many people in Central Africa. Fufu-like starchy foods are usually made from fermented cassava roots, but they can also be made with plantain, corn maize and yam. Fufu is served buffet-style with grilled meat, fish, stews, greens and piment. A variety of local ingredients are used while preparing other dishes, like spinach stew cooked with tomato, peppers, chilies, onions, and peanut butter.[14] Eastern central Africa is also one of the few regions in Africa that uses potatoes as one of its main bases, since potatoes grow easily in the region.

Cassava plants are also consumed as cooked greens. Groundnut (peanut) stew is also prepared, containing chicken, okra, ginger, and other spices. Beef and chicken are favourite meat dishes, but game meat preparations containing crocodile, elephant, antelope and warthog are also served occasionally.

Central Africa is sub-divided into 9 countries according to the United Nations geoscheme for Africa. These countries are as follows:

Central Africa

Arms	Flag	Name of Territory	Capital	Name in Official Language(s)
		Angola	Luanda	Angola
		Cameroon	Yaoundé	Cameroun/Kamerun
		Central African Republic	Bangui	Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka/République centrafricaine
		Chad	N'Djamena	تشاد (Tšād)/Tchad
		Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	Congo/Kôngo/Kongó
		Democratic Republic of the Congo	Kinshasa	République démocratique du Congo
		Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	Guinea Ecuatorial/Guinée Équatoriale/Guiné Equatorial
		Gabon	Libreville	Gabon
		São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	São Tomé e Príncipe